The grass was wet and freshly mowed, a pile of dirt was dug out of grave for the new burial. It was a secluded cemetery, out of the way from the big city. No one was there, no one to pay their respects, except one. Long, blonde locks and piercing blue eyes, the man held a single white rose as the coffin was lowered into the earth by the two cemetery men. His Boss suit blended with the atmosphere, as it was a cemetery. Tears welled up in his eyes as dirt was shoveled onto the gleaming white coffin. White. Something that didn't relate to the deceased's life at all, dark and smooth in mystery, that was the woman who now lied in the coffin. Jesse imagined the body inside, lying there peacefully. Peaceful. That was wrong, Lexa wasn't peaceful, she was never dead inside or out, she was so full of life. It didn't fit having her lie there silently. The coffin was fully buried now, the shovels padded the fresh dirt so grass could be planted there. The two men walked away, finished with their job. Jesse stayed, he wouldn't leave her when she was alive, how could he leave her now? Opening his palm, Jesse ran his fingers over the platinum ring in his hand and walked around the grave and laid it on top of the headstone.

Jesse awoke with a start as the flashes of his dream raced through his mind. The smell of the chlorophyll and wet dirt plagued his senses and the sight of Lexa Pierce carved in the headstone was more than he could bear. No, she's not dead, she's alive. But the images were too much.
"Lexa," Jesse whispered. She lay on her side with her hands beneath her cheek. Jesse smoothed away her hair from her face. He sat on the side her bed beside her.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Lexa whispered with a smile as she stirred from her sleep. "What's going on?" Lexa put a hand on his. A tear welled up in his eye and fell on Lexa's hand. "Jess?"

What could he tell her to make her understand what he was thinking? Jesse pulled his hand away. "Nothing, just a bad dream." Jesse got up and took a step toward the door.

"Jesse," Lexacalled and he stopped.

It was like the air was being sucked from his lungs and a lump was growing his throat. Lexa sat up, worried now. "Come here," she whispered. Jesse walked over and she crossed her legs under her blanket to make room for him on her bed. He sat down and faced her. "What's wrong?"

Jesse looked down at her hand to the ring and the flash of the nightmare came into his mind. "A dream has never been so real," he started.

Lexa could only guess what his nightmare was about, she put her hand on his cheek and made him look at her. "I'm not going anywhere," she assured.

"Can you promise that?" Jesse whispered.

"I thought you were supposed to be optimist," Lexa reminded with a smile. But this was anything but humorous.

"Not with something as big as this," Jesse replied.

Maybe Jesse was right, Lexa always made a joke out of something that was, well, deathly serious. Lexa had never felt this way about a man before Carter, and that was five years ago. And Lexa wasn't even sure she even cared about Carter like she cared about Jesse. Lexa couldn't explain it, it wasn't just physical, even though she was attracted to him, but it was emotional, and psychological, it was everything. Head and heart; body and soul. Could it be love? Lexa didn't know, it had been so long since she had loved someone that way. Lexa didn't know how to handle her feelings anymore. A year ago it was no emotion, it was her and the team. They watched each other's backs even though they didn't care much about each other. But as Lexa looked at Jesse now, she couldn't even remember a time when she didn't care about him even if she only cared a little bit.

"You're right ..." Lexa gave in. "But listen, we have a really good chance at fixing this, Jesse. Don't give up on me now."

"I'm not giving up," Jesse snapped, almost mad that she even thought he would. "It's just that I never realized how serious this was .... until now."

"Me neither," she admitted.

Jesse reached and pushed a lock of her chocolate hair behind her ear. "Thanks for listening." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers and Lexa kissed him back and put her hand behind his neck.

Lexa pulled away and bit her lip before smiling. "Good night, Jess."

"Goodnight," Jesse got off the bed in a better mood than what he came in with and walked out the door.

Brennan dribbled the ball hard, his anger almost bouncing off him. Jesse walked with a look of confusion on his face. "Hey, man, what's wrong?" Brennan threw the ball at Jesse with such force that Jesse, in reflex, massed and the ball came shooting back at Brennan. "What the hell?"

"I saw the computer logs, Jess. I know you're trying to cure Lexa," Brennan accused.

Jesse looked down. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Tell us about screwing with Lexa's DNA? No, man, why didn't you tell us you've almost solved the problem?" Brennan shouted.

"Because I'm not sure I have, Brennan," Jesse argued. "There's nothing to tell you on that one."

"Yeah? Then back again to fixing Lexa. Why didn't you tell us man? At least Shalimar."

"Quiet down," Jesse scolded, and he lowered his voice. "We got a dossier, Lexa's expiry date is real soon. I didn't have any time to tell you."

"That's bull. Jesse," Brennan snapped. "You didn't tell us because you wanted to help her first because of the way you feel about her."

"Maybe," Jesse admitted. "But I promise that if I cure Lexa, I'm working on you and Shal's, OK?"

"Fine," Brennan said and he threw the basketball at the floor and walked off.

"Brennan told me," Shalimar replied. Jesse Kilmartin lifted the rook chess piece and set it down. Shalimar and Jesse were playing a game passing the time.

"I'm sorry, Shal," Jesse apologized honestly.

"No, I know," Shalimar answered. "I'm not mad ... I know how you feel about Lexa, and I know how she feels about you. Just .. don't keep secrets anymore, okay? It's the last thing we need right now."

"Okay," Jesse smiled. "So why is Brennan so angry about this?"

Shalimar shook her head. "I don't know, I guess there's always going to be a part of Brennan that doesn't like or trust Lexa somewhere inside. I guess he just doesn't want to see you get hurt."

"If he doesn't let me work on Lexa's DNA, I will be hurt ... because she'll be dead," Jesse replied.

"I know, and Brennan knows that too. So he can't really be mad at you," Shalimar answered.

Thanks for understanding, Shal," Jesse said with a smile.

"I don't want her to die either, you know? I might not like her as much as you do, but she's a part of the team," Shalimar explained. "But I hardly think anyone could like Lexa Pierce as much as you do."

Jesse laughed. "Maybe, maybe not."

"As much as I love that you and Lexa figuring out your relationship … because I sense that it's taken a long time," Jessie Quick interrupted. "Zoom is going to find a way to come get me, and I really don't think you want to be asleep with Lexa in your arms when that happens."

Jesse looked up. "Straight to the point as always."

"I don't have the time to beat around the bush with you four, Kilmartin," Jessie snapped. "There's a maniac on the loose that can get in here as easily as I could. And you remember how fast that was. I suggest you take this seriously."

Jessie was right, Mutant X had almost forgotten about Zoom in the past twenty four hours. Jesse understood why she was so impatient. "Okay, okay. Lexa!"

The brunette walked out of the bedroom areas as Jesse jumped off the couch. "Get your contact on, see if he can get any information on Zoom."

Lexa was surprised. "You do realize how dangerous that is, don't you?"

"We don't care, Zoom is a whole lot more dangerous to us and to Jessie," Shalimar answered.

Lexa nodded. "Okay."

-------------------------------------------

The operative walked into the Dominion headquarters, his contact waiting for him. The old man was in a wheel chair, but not weak. He was respected by all Dominion officials, even the high council, and was never looked down upon.

"Well? Did you tell them everything you know?"

"Yes," the operative replied. "But I still do not understand why you had ordered me to do so."

"Elijah Zoom is a threat to the Dominion . . . He is mentally unstable and a vengeful operative. We do not need him. So, we are using our enemy to defeat another enemy," the contact explained. "Easy enough to understand," he snapped. "So why hasn't Mutant X attacked Zoom yet?" That was a question the operative had no answer for. "Leave me, I have some thinking to do."

"Yes, sir," he said and exited out the door.

He wheeled to his desk just as Lexa established a communication link. "Lexa," he rasped.

"We need information on Zoom," Lexa explained. "Can you help us?"

"He is no friend of ours," he reasoned. "Eliminate him as soon as possible, Lexa. And get Jessica Chambers to a safe place as you do so, there's no knowing what he'll do if he takes Jessica's life."

"You care about Jessie, as well, hmm?" Lexa hinted. The Contact gathered Lexa liked to tease him about his personal feelings.

"That is no issue to be concerned about," he snapped. "There is information on file, but Zoom keeps more to himself than any other operative I know. The Dominion would rather have Jessica working for us than Elijah Zoom."

"So you haven't even thought about leaving?" Lexa asked.

"We both know there is no escape from the Dominion. Jessica learned it the hard way."

"Why did you send the operative after her if you really want her on your side? Scaring her out of her wits isn't the way to go about that," Lexa answered.

"You hadn't found Zoom yet, it's been two days. I figured if you hadn't found him, it would be better for the Dominion to relocate her."

Lexa scoffed. "Talk about faith."

"This is about the safety of the Dominion on this end, we have no room for faith in others … especially in Mutant X, I'm just following orders."

"Yeah, yeah. So, when are you going to send that information?" Lexa asked.

"I will send it to you when I find something useful."

"Jesse is trying to cure me," Lexa began. "Think you have any useful information on that end?"

"It's a difficult job. I hope Mr. Kilmartin knows what he's doing," he warned.

"I think he has a pretty good idea."

"I'll see if I can do anything about that."

The connection ended and Lexa sighed. "Just as enthusiastic as ever, isn't he?" Lexa looked up to Jesse learning on the door.

"You live to sneak up on me, don't you?" Lexa accused.

Jesse laughed. "What? You do it all the time to me."

He walked in, seriously, and stood by her. "Think he can help?" Jesse asked.

"Always has before," Lexa shrugged. "Well, since it's all out in the open about you working on curing me … and other things … what do you say to going into the lab and map out my structure until he comes up with anything."

Jesse nodded. "That would be the responsible thing to do."

Lexa stood up and faced Jesse. "And maybe when we're done …" Lexa dragged a finger against his neck. "We could do something a little more recreational."

"Wow, you're all about the subtext, aren't you?" Jessie interrupted from the doorway.

Lexa sighed and took a step away. "Well, if you had waited any longer, we would have put in some role playing."

Jessie held her stomach. "Come on, I just ate."

Jesse rolled his eyes. "OK, we've got a .. friend … on Zoom. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, right," Jessie Quick said sarcastically. "Nothing. Well, you two can go on with your cute little game, I'll be wasting away beating Brennan at chess." Jessie turned around and walked out.

Lexa took her turn rolling her eyes and turned back to Jesse. "Okay, so, we're being responsible now, right?"

"We can't fit in the play time around the work?" Jesse asked.

Lexa paused then smiled. "Maybe just a little bit."

Lexa grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss and Jesse held her around her waist. As they kissed each other, they moved to a wall and Jesse pressed Lexa up against it.

In between kisses, Jesse spoke. "Lexa … though Brennan and Shal are …"

Lexa pulled away. "You're thinking about Shalimar and Brennan right now?"

"I was just thinking that even though Shal and Brennan aren't mad at me, I think we should keep it quiet on how close we are."

"Oh," Lexa kissed him softly and Jesse kissed her again. "I guess that's a good idea. Think we should go into a room a little more private?"

Jesse let go of her waist and planted a hand on the wall next to her head and phased it and they disappeared behind the wall.

Lexa snapped back to reality as soon as they got into Jesse's bedroom on his bed. "Jess," she whispered between kisses and then she pulled away.

Almost reading her mind, Jesse leaned back and nodded. "I know, time for work, right?"

Lexa nodded. "As much I'd like to … we're running out of time."

"Yeah," Jesse agreed and cleared his throat and Lexa rested her head on his chest. "So, I was thinking, we can't just sit around until we get more information but I can't map out your genetic structure, it'll take forever."

"I heard the Dominion just released the information about mapping the genetic structure of a chicken," Lexa scoffed. "I guess humans' are a little trickier."

"Yeah, a little," Jesse shrugged sarcastically. "But we're way ahead of a chicken, but we still don't have enough time to map out yours. However, I'll go through Adam's med files for a clue?" Lexa lifted her head and held it up with her hands and stared at Jesse. "And you haven't heard a single word I've been saying, have you?"

"Not a word."

Elijah Thomas Zoom was almost ready. After months of preparing the device, ignoring her presence in this very city, and debating with the Dominion about Jessica Chambers Quick, he was ready for her. They had asked for him to spare her -- Jessica was too valuable to their cause. But he couldn't. Dreams, visions, voices convinced him that after Jessie Quick was eliminated everything would be alright. Memories of his wife's death wouldn't plague him, and every Chambers-Allen member would be almost deceased. With every one dispatched, the lighter his heart. He was doing the Dominion a service, Zoom assured, they didn't want a liability on their side. Better to have her gone. The Dominion didn't agree, but after Zoom informed them about Jessie's sub dermal governor, they had reconsidered. After many negotiations in the lavish board room, the Dominion agreed to let Zoom take care of his personal vendetta if he signs on full service for reconnaissance work in the Dominion - to take the place within their system. Though she was "freelance" Jessie was very important to them, Zoom gathered, despicable. What importance could come from a thief? The Dominion doesn't need her, and frankly Zoom was glad they had agreed to have Zoom take her place. Maybe they wouldn't have so many problems with Mutant X. Zoom overheard that Jessie Quick had deserted the Dominion for Mutant X. Saw that coming, he mused. Chambers and the Allens always were untrustworthy. Act like they know how you're feeling and cause a big mess.

What Zoom didn't know was that the Dominion was double-crossing him.

The old man in the wheelchair was nearly ready collecting information on Zoom. Like Jessica Chambers herself, Zoom kept mostly to himself with his work in the Dominion. He was one of the many scientists in the Dominion, dedicated to working on the mystery of time - to figure the way he and other speed force gurus could leap frog through time, so he could manipulate it. It was some goal, but so far, Zoom hadn't come up with much progress in all the reports he had sent in.

It is ironic that the Dominion - like Dante's diagram of hell - appears to be in levels. Agents and protocol operatives, like security guards with heavy weaponry, are at the bottom. Scientists and doctors are next. Recon operatives, who deal strictly with high level enemies, and surveillance, who resided right in the head quarters, were next; Contacts who spoke directly to the recon and surveillance operatives after; and at the top, or the bottom, depending on the view, was the high council. The man found it extremely possible that the scientists and doctors could carry experiments and withhold results rather easily from the Dominion council, which in this case could be extremely dangerous for Jessie Quick.

Now for the harder part; finding enough information on Lexa Pierce's DNA structure to cure her. To save her life. And compared to Zoom and Quick, to him, that was most important.

Shalimar paced her bedroom, feeling like a caged jaguar. Usually her and Brennan would be outside, enjoying each other's company, out in the city where a girl could have some fun. Fun, Jesse had warned, was over for now. They had had enough fun and now it was time for work. Yeah, I saw them sneak into Jesse's room. Work, my ass she thought with a hint of a smile. She loved Jesse, from the bottom of his heart, and she trusted Lexa - why wouldn't she like that they were a pair now? However, the sinking feeling of a feral's intuition was plaguing her thoughts. Jesse was always a steady rock while Lexa was like a rushing river. Jesse's life was always shaken up by Lexa and Shalimar didn't think that was what Jesse needed right now, or then, when Lexa appeared out of nowhere like a Cheshire cat - making waves when all three of them needed a calm lake. It was over now, but it was that entrance that highlighted what made Shalimar so uneasy about Lexa and Jesse's new relationship.

A part of her was glad, like she told Jesse, that they were figuring out their relationship. Shalimar could sense it throughout their year together that a tingling attraction was growing between them, and their personalities fit like a key and lock. Where Jesse was strong at, Lexa was weak, what Lexa was undefeatable at, Jesse would be there to learn how to be undefeatable. And in that way, they were perfect for each other. But a looming thought in her mind kept echoing: what if Lexa breaks his heart? No doubt Lexa has done it before - the entire Randall Blake fiasco proved to hurt Jesse real bad, and he didn't talk to Lexa for a few days until Lexa apologized - which wasn't easy.

Shalimar and Jesse were on the computers, chatting about what to do for dinner since they hadn't had dinner together in a while when Lexa came from her bedroom. Jesse had caught her with his eyes and Lexa knew she had to say something, Shalimar guessed. Shalimar excused herself but kept nearby incase she had to kick a little brunette ass. Jesse turned back to the computer, until Lexa had given up waiting for him to start the conversation.

"Are you going to make me apologize for breaking our date?" Lexa had asked.

Jesse didn't answer, which was a blunt yes in Jesse language. Lexa was quiet for a while, Shalimar had known apologizing wasn't really Lexa's way of doing things; but Jesse was special.

"I'm sorry, Jess," she finally said with a sigh. "But, hey, we live together - I'm open for drinks any time, okay?" she hinted with a smile.

That seemed to shake Jesse out of his grudge and he smiled a little. "Okay, I forgive you."

Lexa smirked and raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

"Well-what?" Jesse had asked.

"Come on, ask me for a drink again," Lexa motioned to herself as if he was crazy for not picking it up.

Jesse was quiet and then he sighed. "Okay, Lexa, want to go for a drink?"

"Well, I don't know …" Lexa trailed off, teasing him rather well until she grinned, took a step away from the computers, and motioned to the Helix. "Come on, god, do I have to do everything? You're going to make me fly there, aren't you? Where is the chivalry?"

Jesse didn't miss a beat. "I don't think an Ice Queen like you responds to chivalry … Frosty."

Snapping back to the reality, the memory made her laugh. Like Jesse's last remark before they took off, Shalimar was convinced that Jesse could take care of himself. But it wouldn't hurt for Shalimar to kick Lexa's butt if she did break his heart.

Thanks for all the reviews, sorry it's taken so long to update. But I'mgetting stuck for ideas. Enjoy!